Stepson jailed in underwear death appears in court

A McLoud man arrested on a first-degree murder complaint is accused of fighting with his stepfather and giving him an “atomic wedgie” that allegedly led to asphyxiation.

Kim Morava

A McLoud man arrested on a first-degree murder complaint is accused of fighting with his stepfather and giving him an “atomic wedgie” that allegedly led to asphyxiation.

Brad Lee Davis, 33, was arrested in the case Tuesday but hasn’t yet been formally charged in the murder of his stepfather, Denver St. Clair, 58.

Davis appeared for an initial court appearance by video Wednesday and remains jailed in the Pottawatomie County Public Safety Center without bond.

St. Clair, 58, died Dec. 21 after being involved in a fistfight altercation with Davis at his home in rural McLoud.

The 10-page arrest warrant outlines details of the case on a night that began with the two drinking alcohol together. Davis allegedly told deputies that St. Clair made bad comments about his mother and the two fought.

Investigators obtained an arrest warrant in the case after getting further details on cause of death from the medical examiner’s report.

The warrant shows that Davis allegedly admitted he struck St. Clair multiple times during the fight and then gave his stepfather an “atomic wedgie” by pulling St. Clair’s elastic underwear band up over his head and around his neck during that altercation.

The affidavit shows the medical examiner ruled St. Clair died as a result of both blunt force trauma and asphyxiation, which was “caused by the elastic underwear band being stretched over the decedent’s head and left around his neck.”

The manner of death has been ruled as a homicide.

The affidavit indicates that while witnesses said Davis and St. Clair reportedly got along most of the time, there allegedly had been recent disagreements between the suspect and victim over financial matters.

After the incident involving the underwear, Davis allegedly left the room and returned to find his stepfather wasn’t breathing and called 911, the warrant shows.

As part of this investigation, the affidavit shows authorities also retrieved images from the suspect’s cell phone that indicate the crime scene was altered before arrival of deputies.